This article made me think of the many virtues of the (analog) landline telephone system, built up over a century of universal usage. All due nostalgia aside, i

This article made me think of the many virtues of the (analog) landline telephone system, built up over a century of universal usage. All due nostalgia aside, its well-known problems and solutions have been replaced by an arguably (physically) less resilient and markedly more wasteful alternative. I have yet to see a detailed balance sheet on that choice (which includes externalities) from the 'someone who made that decision'. No doubt 'profits' are up, depending on who defines 'profit', and who it advantaged. Sometimes things start out seeming like a great idea (universal automobile ownership). Sometimes haste (like universal nuclear energy, all political motivations aside) makes waste.